A sign hanging from an overpass along the southbound lane of I-83 reads, “Reject Defense and Deposit Medicare for All.”
Lloyd Fox | Baltimore Sun | Tribune News Service | Getty Images
Shares of major insurance companies have fallen by more than 6% since their closing prices last Tuesday, the day before the killing of Brian Thompson, the insurance company's CEO. UnitedHealth GroupInsurance arm, in midtown Manhattan.
This includes UnitedHealth, CVS Health and Cignawhich operates three of the country's largest private health insurance companies. Thompson, 50, led UnitedHealthcare, the largest private company that pays health insurance benefits in the United States.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is accused of fatally shooting Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan early Wednesday last week, as the CEO was heading to UnitedHealth Group's investor day. Investigators said Mangione was critical of the health care industry, a view that some Americans sympathized with online in the days after Thompson's death.
The company's stock performance appears to be a response to “renewed rhetoric” condemning insurers' business models, where they “end up making incredible profits at the expense of some patients at different times of the year,” said Jared Holz, a health officer at Mizuho. the care equity strategist said in an interview.
He noted that this is not a new issue in the industry, which many Americans blame for rising health care costs.
“I think investors' reaction is, 'Do we want to own this class of stock if there's this renewed negative focus now on the industry?'” Holz said.
UnitedHealthcare, like other major insurers, has faced lawsuits and criticism from regulators, legislators and patients alike for allegedly rejecting claims to maximize their profits. Americans have criticized insurance companies for refusing to cover services or treatment, unexpected bills, high out-of-pocket costs, and the dizzying complexity of navigating coverage, among other issues.
While backlash against the industry has mounted since the shooting, Holz said the stock's negative reaction will likely end up being “fairly short-lived.” He added that he did not expect insurance companies to make fundamental changes to their policies in response to the murder.
“Do I think companies are proactively doing anything different on the back of this? No,” Holz said.
Booking photo of Luigi Mangione in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.
Source: Palestinian Authority Department of Corrections
New York prosecutors charged Mangione with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a loaded weapon and other crimes on Monday night, hours after his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The New York charges follow Mangione's initial court appearance in Pennsylvania on separate weapons and forgery charges.
Mangione, a private school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate who comes from an influential Maryland family, was being held without bail after his arraignment Monday evening.
At a court hearing Tuesday afternoon, Mangione refused to waive his right to challenge his extradition to New York City. The judge denied Mangione bail, remanding him to a Pennsylvania prison for the time being.
At the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying handwritten pages critical of the U.S. health care industry and singled out UnitedHealthcare, law enforcement officials told NBC News.
“I apologize for any conflict or trauma, but it had to be done. Honestly, these parasites simply came through,” Mangione wrote, NBC reported.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told NBC's “Today” show on Tuesday that authorities were still investigating the motive behind the shooting, which “will be revealed as this investigation continues over the coming weeks and months.” But she noted that Mangione's memo had “anti-corporate sentiment, and many issues related to the health care industry.”
